Drift Away nb-4

by Jeff Shelby

  I squeezed the flip phone in my hand then slid it into my backpack. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “Just didn’t think it was practical for you to be phoneless.”

  “I haven’t had anyone to call.”

  “Well, you do now,” she said, smiling into the sun. “If you need me. Or if you wanna talk to Jackson.”

  I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, he seems like the phone type.”

  “Totally.”

  We watched him for a few minutes as the castle he was building began to take shape. He’d opted against a moat this time and was concentrating instead on building towers nearly as tall as him. The hard-packed sand cracked under the weight of brick after brick being piled on top of each other, but it didn’t topple.

  “You were fine last night?” I asked.

  She hesitated, then nodded. “I brought Jax in with me. Slept off and on. But we were fine. Nothing happened.”

  “When do you need to get the money to David?”

  “Today,” she said. “He always wants it twenty-four hours later, not right after. He thinks that’s smart. It’s not. I could totally rip him off and take off with the money, but he’s trying to avoid connections.”

  “Your phone have Internet access?”

  “Yes. It was actually hard to find you a phone that doesn’t,” she said, digging in her beach bag once again. “I figured you didn’t want that.”

  “You were right.”

  She produced a small handheld and punched in a few numbers. She handed it to me. “It’s open.”

  I tapped the icon for the browser and it came up instantaneously. I punched in the AOL address for email and checked the account.

  I closed it all out and handed it back to her. “Thanks.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Liar.”

  I wasn’t sure how I wanted to go forward with David. I really did want Carter’s help to make a run at him. I wasn’t sure I was capable of doing anything by myself anymore and he’d have a plan. So I was frustrated that I didn’t have an email response from him.

  “I’m just trying to figure out how to go at him,” I said. “David.”

  “He’s gonna go nuts,” Bella said. “I can promise you that.”

  “It’s not the nuts part that worries me. It’s the severing ties part I want to make sure happens. And to do that, I need a plan.”

  “What does that have to do with my phone?”

  Jackson squealed and we both looked over. He stared at his collapsed castle, his balled-up hands waving in frustration. He tossed his shovel and bounded down to the water.

  “I’m looking for some help from a friend,” I said.

  “I thought you weren’t talking to anyone.”

  “He’s the one guy I trust.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “And he’ll know what to do. He sort of…specializes in this kind of thing.”

  “Specializes? That sounds crazy.”

  “You have no idea. But I trust him. Completely.”

  She nodded and we watched Jackson splash along the edge of the waves, kicking up water. He sprinted away from us and nearly ran into the legs of a man walking toward him. The man spun and smiled at Jackson, said something to him that made Jackson smile. The man continued walking and then glanced in our direction.

  Tall. Dark hair. Dark skin. Sunglasses. White T-shirt, black shorts. He held up a hand and gave me a quick wave.

  I leaned forward in my chair.

  “You know him?” Bella asked.

  He walked slowly up the sand toward us and I blinked several times. “Yeah. Actually, I do.”

  “Really?” Bella said. “Is he the friend you were talking about?”

  “No,” I said, standing up, completely confused. “That’s Liz’s brother.”

  THIRTY-ONE

  I hadn’t seen Alex Santangelo in a couple of years. The last time I’d seen him, Carter and I had helped him get out of a jam that involved Zip and I never expected to see him again. He and Liz weren’t close and he’d spent most of his adult life in the drug world. She’d cut him off and didn’t even know that I’d helped him out. So to see him walk up the sand to me was more than just a little surprising. It was a shock.

  “Hey, Noah,” he said. He held out his hand and pushed the sunglasses from his eyes to the top of his head.

  We shook. “Alex.”

  “You look surprised.”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  He looked from me to Bella. “Hi. I’m Alex.”

  “Bella.” They shook hands. “That was my son who almost took you out down there. Jackson.”

  “Ah, yes. I told him I thought he was a sea creature.”

  “He’s a creature alright.”

  Alex smiled at her. “He’s cute.”

  “Thanks.”

  Alex looked at me. “So.”

  “So.”

  He waited, his expression clear.

  “I haven’t seen you since…in a couple years,” I said. “Running into you here is a little weird.”

  Confusion spread across his face and we stood there awkwardly for a moment.

  Bella stood. “I’m gonna go check on Jackson.”

  She trotted down the sand toward her son.

  “Look, if you’re in trouble with Zip again, I’ve got nothing for you,” I said when she was out of earshot. “I’m knee-deep in my own shit and I don’t have time…”

  “Hey,” Alex said. “Whoa.”

  I closed my mouth.

  He ran a hand over his forehead, wiping away the perspiration. “I got out, Noah. Totally.”

  I didn’t say anything because I found that hard to believe. For years, I hadn’t even known Liz had a brother. When we ran into him one day, she gave me the story and it wasn’t pretty. Got into dealing at an early age and it spiraled out of control. She’d cut ties with him because he’d let her down so many times. She’d finally had enough. And the only reason I’d helped him was because I wanted to do something for Liz, whether or not she knew about it. So I was skeptical.

  “The day you and Carter saved my ass, I started pulling out,” he said. “I was tired. Tired of looking to score, tired of not knowing who was on the other side of the door, tired of disappointing everyone. So it took me awhile, but I cut out.”

  “What are you doing now then?” I asked.

  “Working construction,” he said. “And I’m back in school. Getting my degree.”

  “No drugs?”

  “None,” he said, looking me square in the eye. “Free and clear.”

  His eyes drifted away from me, toward the water. “When Liz was killed, that’s when I decided on school. I was out, but just spinning my wheels, no direction. But after all that, I decided I wasn’t going to waste any more time. Day after the funeral I went over to Mesa, enrolled and made a plan.”

  I winced at the mention of her funeral. I hadn’t gone. And it wasn’t that I wished that I’d gone. It was just something I didn’t like to think about.

  “So I’m good,” he said, turning back to me. “I think that I always thought I’d have time with her, you know? Eventually, I figured I’d get my act together and I’d fix all of the damage I’d done. Same kind of lies every loser tells himself to justify what he’s doing. I was no different. But I always meant it, at least in my head I did. Then she was gone.” He paused. “I may have missed out on having a relationship with her while she was alive, but I can make sure she’d be proud of me now. It’s all I have.”

  I nodded and was envious for a moment. At least he had something to tie himself to her. I felt like I had nothing.

  “So what the hell are you doing here?” I asked.

  A crooked smile spread across his face. “Carter sent me.”

  THIRTY-TWO

  “Carter sent you?” I asked. “To me?”

  “He said he got an email from you,” Alex said. “Something about Zip.”

>   My brain spun.

  “He said he was going to email you and let you know I was on the way,” he said.

  “Yeah, well, he must have forgotten.”

  He studied me for a minute, then slid the glasses back over his eyes, the sun getting the better of him. “You’re wondering why the hell he sent me, right?”

  “Crossed my mind, Alex,” I said honestly. “Like I said, last time I saw you was, I thought, the last time Carter saw you, too.”

  Alex nodded and stared out toward the water. “Fair enough.” He cleared his throat. “A few days after the funeral, I came looking for you. To talk to you. But you were…already gone.”

  I shifted my feet in the sand, uncomfortable under the weight of his words.

  “I hung out. I waited,” Alex continued. “Carter finally showed up.” He chuckled. “I think I actually scared him on your patio because I was just sitting there. Anyway, he tried to blow me off, said he didn’t know where you were, some bullshit. But I sniffed it out, you know? I knew he knew where you were.”

  I tried to picture them having the conversation on my patio, but I had trouble even recalling what my home looked like.

  “So I badgered the shit out of him,” Alex said, turning to me. “Because I wanted a piece of whoever killed my sister.”

  Landon Keene’s face flashed somewhere on the horizon and I turned away from it.

  “Carter tried to put me off, but I was relentless,” he said. “I wouldn’t leave him alone. I found his house. Basically camped out. Finally, he caved. He told me. About you and Keene.”

  The words hung there in the air and it felt as if they were lit up in neon for the entire world to see. I wasn’t sure I cared.

  “So before I forget…thank you,” Alex said quietly.

  I didn’t move or respond. Wasn’t sure that I could do either.

  “But Carter and I started talking,” he said, shrugging. “He helped me line up a couple of construction jobs, lent me the money to start the classes at Mesa.” He smiled at me. “Don’t worry. I paid him back two weeks later.”

  I nodded.

  “So, then he needed to get outta sight,” he said. “Cops started breathing down on him a little bit, you know? I knew a couple people, I gave him the names. We’ve stayed in touch. Two days ago, my cell rang. He said you needed some help, told me where you were.” He shrugged. “So here I am. Because I owe you.”

  “Owe me? How do you figure?”

  Alex folded his arms across his broad chest. “Three reasons, Noah. One, you bailed my ass out when you had no reason to. Helped get my head on right.” He glanced at me. “Two, you took out the motherfucker that killed my sister.” He turned all the way to me, shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “And, three, you made Liz happy. Really happy. She loved you, Noah. Really loved you.”

  I blinked hard, letting the words surround me, swallow me up. Images of her face flashed out on the horizon, faster than I could look at them.

  “So, thank you, Noah,” Alex said. “Thank you.”

  There was nothing to thank me for and I couldn’t imagine anyone feeling grateful to me for what I’d brought to Liz’s life. I’d have given anything to have her back, to have no one feel the need to thank me.

  “Okay,” I said, because there was nothing else to say.

  “So I’m in,” Alex said. “Whatever you need, whatever you want, I’m in.”

  “Okay.”

  Bella ushered Jackson over to the water, had him bend down and wash his hands off.

  “Carter,” I asked. “How is he?”

  “He’s alright,” he said. “Heat’s on a bit, so he’s staying quiet.”

  “What kind of heat?”

  “Those two cops that found Keene’s body.”

  “Klimes and Zanella?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Them. They’ve been all over him.”

  The tide was starting to roll in and the waves were crashing harder.

  “Tailing him, pulling him in for questions, just staying on him,” he said. “He told me that he heard they were working on warrants for him. And for you. So he decided to make himself scarce for awhile.”

  “What about Wellton?” I asked. “Where’s he at?”

  “He’s kind of a mess,” Alex said. “Took some time off. He’s back now, but he really hasn’t been in any shape to help or run interference.”

  It was hard for me to picture Liz’s old partner imploding. As much as he and I didn’t get along, I respected him as a cop and after she died, he was the one who gave me the heads up that Keene’s body had been located. But it sounded as if both he and Carter were suffering in different ways.

  Because of me.

  Jackson chased Bella down the shoreline, both of them giggling as the water splashed around their ankles. I couldn’t stay much longer. I didn’t want them to be hurt because of me. I needed to figure out her situation and move on to wherever I was going to move on to.

  “You really up for helping me?” I asked.

  “Anything,” he said. “I’m in.”

  “May mean getting your hands a little dirty.”

  He smiled. “Done it before, I can do it again.”

  Bella scooped up Jackson and swung him around, his legs flailing as he screamed and giggled above the water.

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s figure some shit out.”

  THIRTY-THREE

  “Alex and I will take David the money,” I said.

  “You’re nuts,” Bella said.

  We were still on the beach and Jackson had passed out on a towel next to us. I’d grabbed a couple more chairs and the three of us were sitting there, discussing our options. Or rather, I was throwing out options and Bella was discouraging them.

  “He’ll freak,” she said. “Absolutely freak. And come after me.”

  “No, he won’t,” I said.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I’m going to tell him not to.”

  Alex chuckled, but Bella just shook her head, her mouth set in a line of agitation.

  “I’m not going to let him hurt you, Bella,” I said. “You need to trust me if you want my help. Remember?”

  The line softened, but didn’t disappear completely. “I remember. I do trust you. But he isn’t some neighborhood dealer and I think that’s how you’re looking at him.”

  “He’s capable of more?” Alex asked.

  She nodded.

  “Like?” Alex prodded.

  “Like a lot more, okay?” she said. “He’s killed people. He’s just like Evan was.”

  “Who’s Evan?” Alex asked.

  I waved him off.

  “They are so much alike,” she continued. “I know him. And it won’t be about losing the deal. It’s going to be someone telling him what to do. That’s the stuff he can’t take. The stuff that will piss him off.”

  Which I already knew. Guys like David got off on the control far more than the money or deals. But I could understand why she was scared.

  “Fair enough,” I said. “But there are two of us here now. Alex is going to help. You won’t be left alone until it’s settled.”

  She glanced at Alex and he smiled at her. She looked away. “What exactly does ’settled’ mean?”

  “It means that until I’m comfortable knowing David will leave you alone, one of us will be with you and Jackson.”

  “But you just said the two of you were going to take the money to David.”

  “I changed my mind,” I said. “Alex will stay with you and I’ll take the money.”

  She turned her gaze to me. “You didn’t fare so well with him last time.”

  I smiled. “I wasn’t ready for a fight. I will be this time.”

  She chewed on her lip for a moment. “I don’t want you getting the crap beat out of you for me.”

  “He gets the crap beat out of him for a lot of people,” Alex said.

  Her eyes flitted to him and she tried to suppress a smile, then looked back at me. �
�I mean it.”

  “I know you do,” I said. “But I’ll be fine.”

  She sighed, shook her head, still unsure. She touched Jackson’s hair lightly. “So, when is this going to happen?”

  “Soon as we’re done here,” I said. “I’ll put the equipment away and Alex will go with you guys.” I looked at him and he nodded. “And I’ll go to David’s.”

  “And that’s it?” she said. “Just like that?”

  “What exactly should I wait for?”

  She looked away.

  “You got anything with you?” I said to Alex.

  He nodded. “I’m covered.”

  “Anybody comes, they’ll be gunned up.”

  “I’m covered,” he repeated.

  It was almost four o'clock. The chairs were nearly empty now and the tourists were streaming back to their condos in preparation for dinner. I shook the sand from my feet and stood.

  “I’ll need an address for him,” I said.

  She hugged her knees to her chest and watched the water. “You promise you’ll come back? In one piece?”

  “Yes.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “You can’t make that kind of promise.”

  “You asked me to.”

  She squeezed her knees and she tilted her head to look up at me. “Just come back.”

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Alex left with Bella and Jackson and I put the chairs and umbrellas away. I found Alex’s rental car in the parking lot. It was the first time in months that I’d been behind the wheel of a car and I felt out of place as I headed east on the highway into Destin.

  Bella had given me David’s address and I plugged it into the GPS in the rental. The computerized voice guided me past the restaurants, hotels and shops and into a neighborhood built around a golf course. Wide, expensive homes lined the fairways, separated by palm trees and pools. I immediately felt at ease because no matter what was going to go down, I knew David wouldn’t risk his lavish lifestyle by going after me in his own neighborhood. He was one of the new style drug kings-he liked the money that came with the dirty work, but wanted the world to think he’d done it legitimately.

  The GPS told me I’d arrived at my destination in front of a two-story, white-stucco home. A brick walkway, lined with flowering shrubs, led to an oversized mahogany door. The emerald green lawn could’ve served as a fairway and a white SUV with tricked-out rims was parked in the crescent-shaped drive.